| Main Entry: | abuse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | physically hurt or injure |
Synonyms: |
bang up, beat up, bung up, corrupt, cut up, damage, defile, deprave, desecrate, harm, hose, ill-treat, impair, maltreat, mar, mess up*, mishandle, mistreat, misuse, molest, oppress, persecute, pollute, rough up, roughhouse, ruin, shake up, spoil, taint, total*, victimize, violate, wax |
| Notes: | abuse carries with it some sense of harm; misuse refers to an incorrect use that may not lead to harm to misuse is to use something wrongly, to abuse is to misuse something so badly that you damage it |
Antonyms: |
cherish, defend, help, preserve, protect, respect |
| Main Entry: | abuse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | use wrongly |
Synonyms: |
dissipate, exhaust, misemploy, mishandle, misuse, overburden, overtax, overwork, prostitute, spoil, squander, taint, waste |
Antonyms: |
benefit, care for, esteem, prize, respect, revere |
| Main Entry: | corrupt |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | pervert; pollute |
Synonyms: |
abase, abuse, adulterate, animalize, bastardize, blemish, blight, bribe, contaminate, damage, debase, debauch, decay, decompose, deface, defile, deform, degrade, demean, demoralize, deprave, depreciate, despoil, disfigure, disgrace, dishonor, fix, grease palm, harm, hurt, ill-treat, impair, infect, injure, lower, lure, maltreat, mar, mistreat, misuse, outrage, pull down, putrefy, ravage, reduce, rot, ruin, spoil, square, stain, suborn, subvert, taint, undermine, violate, vitiate, warp, waste |
Antonyms: |
better, chasten, cleanse, dignify, improve, purify |
| Main Entry: | dissipate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | expend, spend |
Synonyms: |
be wasteful with, blow*, burn up, consume, deplete, dump*, fritter away, indulge oneself, kiss goodbye, lavish, misspend, misuse, run through, squander, throw away, trifle away, use up, waste |
Antonyms: |
accumulate, collect, gather, hoard, save |
| Main Entry: | embezzle |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | steal money, often from employer |
Synonyms: |
abstract, appropriate, defalcate, filch, forge, loot, misapply, misappropriate, misuse, peculate, pilfer, purloin, put hand in cookie jar, put hand in till, skim, thieve |
Antonyms: |
compensate, give, pay, reimburse, return |
| Main Entry: | harm |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | injure; cause evil |
Synonyms: |
abuse, blemish, bruise, cripple, crush, damage, dilapidate, discommode, disserve, do violence to, dump on, get, hurt, ill-treat, impair, incommode, inconvenience, louse up, maim, maltreat, mangle, mar, mess up*, misuse, molest, muck up, mutilate, nick, outrage, prejudice, put down, ruin, sabotage, sap*, scathe, shatter, shock, spoil, stab, tarnish, total, trample, traumatize, tweak*, undermine, vandalize, vitiate, wing*, wound, wreck, wrench, wrong, zing |
Antonyms: |
aid, assist, benefit, care, fix, help, improve, mend |
| Main Entry: | misappropriate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | use wrongly; steal |
Synonyms: |
abuse, appropriate, defalcate, embezzle, misapply, misspend, misuse, peculate, plunder, pocket, rob, swindle |
Antonyms: |
appropriate, use wisely |
| Main Entry: | mishandle/mismanage |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | mess up |
Synonyms: |
abuse, be incompetent, be inefficient, blow, blunder, botch, bungle, confound, err, flub, foul up, fumble, goof up, goof, gum up, harm, make a hash of, make a mess of, maladminister, misapply, misconduct, misdirect, misemploy, misgovern, mistreat, misuse, muff, overlook, pervert, prostitute, put foot in, screw up, shoot oneself in foot |
Antonyms: |
handle, manage |
| Main Entry: | mistreat |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | treat badly or wrongly |
Synonyms: |
abuse, backbite, bash, brutalize, bung up, chop, do wrong, dump on, give black eye, handle roughly, harm, injure, kick around, knock around, maltreat, maul, mess up, misuse, molest, outrage, push around, rip, rough up, roughhouse, shake up, total*, trash*, wax, wound, wrong |
Antonyms: |
coddle, favor, pamper, pet, please, satisfy, treat well |
| Main Entry: | misuse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | abuse; apply wrongly |
Synonyms: |
blow*, brutalize, corrupt, cut up, desecrate, dissipate, exploit, go through, handle roughly, ill-treat, maltreat, maul, mess up*, misapply, misemploy, mistreat, molest, outrage, pervert, profane, prostitute, run through, shake up, squander, waste, wrong |
Antonyms: |
use correctly |